Campus Racism 101
The title Campus Racism 101 is such a clever tile. In college when you take a course and you are just starting out it usually has 101 on the end. So by titling it campus racism 101 Nikki’s purpose is to give students a lesson telling them all they will need to know about school and the environment around them. Giovanni starts off the essay by saying “to bad racism isn’t painful. I like that, but to bad ignorance is.” (Giovanni 205) To some ignorance is just that, but to others it is so much more and really can tear a person down or make them feel as if they don’t belong in society.
Giovanni tells us how she teaches at a predominantly white school and people often ask her why Virginia tech? In response to that she says “because it’s here and so are black students.” (Giovanni 205) Giovanni states that people need to have a little perspective. “Where can you go and what can you do that frees you from interacting with the white American mentality?” (Giovanni 206) by saying this she meant that no matter where you go or what you do in life you cannot escape the ignorance of some people. So you have two choices, to challenge it with one of Giovanni’s witty responses as outlined in this essay or to ignore it and let it get to you. It was interesting to me when Giovanni said “will you be in some control of yourself and your actions, or will you be controlled by others?” (Giovanni 206) the way others perceive us to be or stereotype us to be is out of our hands. You cannot worry about those things you can only continue to live your life.
“We, neither less nor more than other people need knowledge.” (Giovanni 206) when Giovanni says “we” she is talking about African Americans that are in school. But she is also saying that we are equals. No one race needs knowledge more than the other. “There are discomforts attached to attending predominantly white colleges, though no more so than living in a racist world.”(Giovanni 206)